


Surface Tension

by ONeillwith2ls



Series: Surface Tension [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s04e10 Beneath the Surface, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls
Summary: Nothing about this world makes sense--except you.
Relationships: Jonah/Thera (Stargate), Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Series: Surface Tension [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631935
Comments: 16
Kudos: 41





	Surface Tension

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 and an immediate follow on of "No, my dreams--"
> 
> Characters are not mine they belong to the good people at Stargate!
> 
> I'm not sure about my part 3 but I'm going to check with my writers group see what they think!
> 
> Feel free to leave Kudos and comments below!

The ride up to the surface in the elevator was a long one, Sam was sure it was slower then normal, in her current condition though she might be remembering it wrong.

“Going home?” ~~Jonah~~ Jack had asked her.

She nodded “Yes, sir. Janet recommended it, thought it would help recovery.”

He nodded “She said that to me too.”

“Right, makes sense.” Sam said awkwardly as she tried to look towards him. Her eyes settled on his hands, where her face became warm with the memory of what they had done to her the night before. She blushed away awkwardly deciding that focusing on _any_ part of Jonah was a bad idea. Jack! Damn! “Sir!” she protested outloud.

He looked at her confused where she turned an even deeper shade of pink.

“Look Carter—” he started but as he said it the elevator stopped when the doors were opening she practically pushed them open to get past.

* * *

She remembered it with perfect clarity as she pulled up to her house, still completely mortified, when stopped she put her head on the steering wheel trying to find her equilibrium. She took a couple of deep breaths and sat up in her chair, not able to stop thinking about what Jack would find in his house. She then gasped. “Oh God, Charlie!” she exclaimed as she turned her engine on.

She was lucky they didn’t live that far apart the speeds she was doing, she slipped behind his truck put her car in park and ran out of her car. She knocked but didn’t wait for him to answer, if he fully remembered about Charlie he wasn’t going to answer the door. She entered the house “Jonah?” she called without thinking, she didn’t even correct herself, all she could think about was the amount of pain he’d be feeling, she wouldn’t let him go through it alone this time. “Jonah?” she called before she turned the corner into the living room finding him sitting on the sofa the picture of him Charlie and Sara in his hands. “Jonah?” she repeated.

He looked up and Sam saw it. He knew fully, he remembered it all, the look of pain in his eyes was so expressive she found it painful to look.

“It was real.” Was all he said.

She nodded and sat next to him, not saying a word but put her hand on his forearm.

“You should go.” He tells her.

“I’m not letting you go through this alone.” She whispered. “You don’t have to talk to me, you don’t have to entertain me, you don’t even have to acknowledge my presence.” She told him. “But I am here, and I won’t leave you to go through this pain all on your own—“she told him tears appearing in her eyes."--again."

“Thera—” he started but had no idea how to finish it, he wrapped his arms around her. “Sam.” He said quietly after a few minutes. “What made you come?” he asked her.

“Just the other night you told me about your dreams, about your little boy and I was wondering what you would find when you got home, and—Well I remembered.”

“I envy him. Not knowing.” He said quietly “Is that how easy it is to just wipe my son from my mind?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head “He was still there Jack, just buried inside.” She reminded him “Some things they stay with you, you bury them and hide them because the life you’re living has no place for them, but they stay, always.”

He looked into her eyes and knew the double meaning of her words, he nodded and brought his hand to her cheek and caressed it. “Always.”

* * *

Two days later

Jonah stared at the ceiling above him. The smooth white surface of the plasterboard, the fan on top of the light which was currently spinning around, bringing more coolness in the air then he knew was normal here.

He chuckled. _Normal_ , he reprimanded himself. _Nothing_ here was normal.

Not the way the sun was freely there in the sky warming his bones through. Not the lack of stiffness in his shoulders through hours of physical labour every day. Not the way the house was so quiet, there was no hum of machines nor sound of steam from the dated equipment, nor the sound of others snores.

He turned in the all too big bed and sunk a little lower into the far too soft mattress, feeling again his legs getting tangled in the far too hot duvet cover.

No, nothing was normal, not even his true identity he had learned days ago.

You’d think working for your planet in an ice age was strange. This was surreal!

He was a Colonel in a top secret programme of one of the biggest governments on this planet! He traveled to other planets through a thing called a Stargate and was front line defense in a battle with aliens!

He turned over again in the bed trying to let himself go off to sleep, but it was alluding him, just as it had every night. He huffed again before he heard a knock. He sat up confused and looked at the clock. 01:27 he was confused as to who was there this time in the morning. He stood up and pulled on a t shirt as he went through the house to his front door.

“The-Sa-Carter?” he stumbled seeing her stand at his front door.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir.” She said honestly her hands fiddling in front of her looking down into them. “Well you see I just, I haven’t been able to sleep, and then tonight I could but then I woke up a-and-“ her voice was shaking as he saw the tears forming in her eyes. “I was Thera, all over again and I was in this massive bed all on my own and it was quiet and I got scared and then I found myself driving here, which makes no sense because Thera can’t drive right?” she said shaking her head “but Sam can, she can drive and sleep on her own and she’s not scared of the quiet or the dark, but then Thera wanted Jonah and....” she took a deep breath biting back the tears but was failing miserably. “B-but Sam knows where her CO lives...”

Jack stepped forward and looked down into her sad eyes. He swallowed hoping she knew these emotions weren’t exclusively hers. “C’mere.” He said softly before his arms wrapped her into him while simultaneously stepping them back in the house and closing the door behind them. She was now sobbing into him shaking with anxiety. “I know.” He whispered to her “I know, me too.”

He stood stroking her back as she cried into him for a few minutes just gently holding her there. For all he cared she could stay there. Whoever she was right now, she could stay. She could stay wrapped in his arms.

“This place makes no sense.” She sobbed.

He looked down to her concerned before she took a deep breath and clarified “We’re physically free here. Isn’t it odd?” she asked but didn’t ask for an answer “My work is valued and I think I’m valued, I have a doctorate, I’m part of SG1, I have my own house, I’m free to wander around outside in the sunlight, I’m free to a religion and my country is a free one.” She shrugged and stepped back for a moment, but her hand slipped into his so he knew whatever it was they were doing, it wasn’t over “But Thera,” she said quietly “was more free, to feel feelings.” She said meaningfully.

Jack didn’t look up but nodded still looking at his hands “Its ironic isn’t it?” he asked her softly “the one thing I remember...” he trailed sadly.

“But its real.” She whispered back before there was a long pause and she looked worried at him “Isn’t it?” Thera came to the surface.

Jack pulled her in again hugged her to him where she thought she heard “Always,” he assured her, “Its the one thing here which is real.”

“I-I...” she started but couldn’t say it. _‘I don’t want to go home tonight, can I stay here with you?’_ she thought.

“My living room is uncomfortable, and I have a dozen or so machine’s I can switch everything on make some noise...” he suggested.

Sam looked up with a small grin appearing on her lips for a moment before she nodded “Maybe the TV?” she asked him.

A cautious look still on his face he agreed “Okay.”

They walked into the living room where Jack took the cushions off the sofa and pulled out the bed. Sam looked surprised at it for a moment. “Its still uncomfortable as hell.” He told her which made her smile, something he missed as he was opening the doors which lead out to his patio. He grabbed an afghan and spread it across the sofa bed. He sat on the edge and looked up at her looking nervously towards it. “Thera, come on, come to bed, you going to sleep standing?” he asked her not noticing the slip up in name.

She took off her shoes and jacket and shuffled onto the mattress as Jack swung his feet onto the bed tucking them in the afghan around them and turning on the TV low.

“Good call on the doors.” She whispered as she turned towards him.

“So much air here.” He muttered.

She chuckled turning towards him “One of the things about it not being an ice planet.”

“It wasn’t.” Jack observed. “At least inside the dome.”

“Right,” Sam nodded, “but we didn’t know that.”

He nodded and turned towards her “Right. It is my honour to serve.” He commented sarcastically as he tapped the mattress between them.

She nodded and asked him “Have you been hungry here yet?” she asked him, to which he looked to her confused. “Janet said I lost a stone over there.” She said quietly “She wants me to put some weight back on because now I’m underweight.” She told him “Thing is I’m never hungry.” She admitted. “How am I meant to eat if I’m not hungry.” She shook her head “Everything here is just....” she faded for a moment looking down “How am I meant to be her?” Sam asked him. “I’m not her I’m...” she shook her head. “I mean look at me, I’m too skinny I looked like a scarecrow and when I came back I had to go and get my hair cut _again_! So much for growing it a little longer.” she objected “I’m not Major Samantha Carter, she’s strong and so damn smart...”

“They didn’t take that away from you Carter.” He whispered to her “You were still the smartest person on the planet even over there.” He told her.

“I’m not her though, I don’t feel like...” she faded before she continued “I mean even if I am her, Sam Carter, why would I want to be, she denies her feelings when...” she took a deep breath trying to will the words out before she snapped and annoyed growl in anger “I can’t even admit it!” she shook her head “If I’m not Thera...” she confided in him. “Who the hell am I and where am I from?! And what kind of life is it where I can’t tell the man I love....” She faded again biting her bottom lip looking at him as tears formed in her eyes.

He gave into his feelings and shuffled closer to her his arm bringing her into his chest she didn’t object her nose nuzzling into his chest. “I’m sorry Thera.” He whispered to her. “They changed your ‘you’ the most out of all of us.” He admitted. He would never have told her. He had watched as her perfectly framed figure with curves in the right places had faded away, her frame lankier the curve of her stomach concaving, the swell of her breasts smaller then before and with Kegan’s dislike for Thera then her rations had often been smaller, he wasn’t surprised she had lost so much in such a small amount of time. “We’ll figure it out.” He whispered into her hair. “Together, we’ll figure it out.” He hushed her and held her like he would a lover.

They turned their attention to the TV where the Simpsons came on. Sam stared at the screen in fascination for a few minutes when Jack finally asked her “What? What is it?”

“Bald? Short sleeve shirt? Important to you and Homer?” she asked him. “are you sure it was Hammond you were remembering?”

He looked at the screen equally amazed for a few seconds, the look on his face only made her giggle more, before he grinned himself.

“Thanks for coming, the other day, when you remembered about Charlie.” Jack whispered to her.

“That’s alright.” She said quietly. “If you ever need to talk about him—or Sara—” she said carefully.

“I know.” He said quietly. “I doubt I ever will—” he said quietly.

She knew it wasn’t out of cruelty. Jack didn’t just hold his card close, he’s memorized them and ate them, internalizing his emotions, tucking them away so they couldn’t hurt anyone around him, but he took the brunt of it all on his own. “That’s okay too.” She assured him.

They turned to watch the Simpsons where she finally giggled out at the silliness they relaxed further into each others arms. He felt her shoulders relax into him and only occasionally feel her shudder for a few minutes before she fell silent in his arms. He peaked down and saw her eyes were closed as she lay snug in his arms. He kissed atop her head as he watch the images flicker on the screen. Slowly but surely his eyes began to close, a happy thought entered his mind.

He could spend every night like this, with Thera in his arms.

* * *

They woke the next morning to the sound of the birds outside chirping. He looked at the clock on the mantle which read at ten thirty seven. He sighed in relief, they’d actually managed a good eight hour sleep. She stirred in his arms snuggling deeper into his chest. As she gradually woke, Sam looked wide eyed at Jack.

He eventually spoke gently to her “Don’t worry about it.” He told her as if he read her mind. “You’re Thera and I’m Jonah remember?” he whispered. He saw her relax and hug into him again before he again kissed to her hair. “I wish...” he started.

“I know.” He heard her whisper before she paused and looked up to him “but I think it would be better for them if we don’t say it.” She told him.

“Right.” He said knowing the ‘them’ she spoke of was in fact them, he looked into her eyes his hand stroking her cheek tenderly the other in her hair playing with it gently. His lips reached hers, where he lovingly grasped her lips with his, applying a tender pressure of longing. He didn’t know how he knew but her eyes closed and through her nose she inhaled lightly. He only just managed to move back from deepening the kiss into something else. He swept her nose along hers a few times in an eskimo kisses.

As he pulled back he heard the words like a punch to the stomach. “This can’t ever happen again can it?” She asked him.

His gut tightened, screaming for him to throw caution at the wind and let her happen to him. Give it all up to be with her! He knew very few things to be true at the moment, but he knew he loved her. Both Jack and Jonah loved the women sharing his bed with him! They were one and the same!

She was passionate and smart, laughed at his dumbass jokes, tough and brave, in every way they were the same. Sure Sam had her motorcycles her doohickey’s her lab. But the essences of who she was hadn’t been lost in the memory stamp, as much as he knew he was Jonah, he was Jonah because he was Jack.

He still found himself shaking his head sadly, but there seemed to be an unspoken acknowledgement that when she left they’d have to say goodbye forever.

“Let me get you some coffee.” He said softly to her. “Few things here makes sense but coffee does.” He said with a smile.

She chuckled and nodded “ _That_ I can agree with.”

* * *

It was an hour later she found herself at his door her back to the closed door and Jack pressed into her in a hug.

“Thank you for last night.” She told him.

“Anytime.” He said genuinely but made it a joke for her, she looked up her lips turning in a smile.

“I wish...” she started.

“I know.” He finished for her.

They paused in the moment her hand on his chest the other at the nape of his neck threading through the hair there. His arms at her waist their noses close. Their lips brushed again in a non kiss which made them both ache in the loss they felt.

“You know,” he whispered to her “You’re more like Major Carter then you think.” He told her affectionately.

She looked up at him sadly her heart racing she swallowed before she told him “I should go.”

He stepped back out of the hug they didn’t notice their hands join as he opened the door. “I guess I’ll see you at 1400?” he asked her.

“The weekly briefing.” She said with a nod.

“I’ll bring doughnuts.” He told her with a grin “empty calories will help you put the weight back on faster.”

She stepped over the threshold of the house. “Thank you.” She whispered sadly as their hand pulled back from the other. She looked up at him “You think I’m like her?” she asked him again.

He smiled softly and nodded. “I know _you_.” He told her “the name by which I know you doesn’t matter as much, and you are the smartest person on any planet. I know _you_ and I care about _you_ Always .” He nodded. “If you need _me_...” he trailed but didn’t finish the sentence.

She nodded and a brave smile appeared at her lips “I know.” She told him. “Thank you again.” She reiterated then to draw the line again under what had happened she added “Sir.”


End file.
